Newsletters

Andrews on the right – and PhD student, Charlotte Collier (left) at the event.

Horses, Tractors, and Neuroanatomy: Doctor Brings Anatomy to the County ShowVisitors to this year’s The New Forest and Hampshire County Show in Brockenhurst, Hampshire were treated to plenty of traditional English summer fair standbys—locally made food, drinks and crafts, a garden tearoom, livestock competitions, and a musical horse show featuring 16 pairs of Shire horses.

Andrews, a Lecturer in Systems Physiology and Group Leader in Neurogeneration at the University of Southampton School of Biological Sciences, recently won the Anatomical Society’s Public Engagement and Outreach Grant. The award, launched in June 2018, is aimed at supporting “the public engagement and outreach activities of members of the Society in the field of Anatomy.”

We caught up with Andrews (an AAA member since 2003) to learn more about her grant, the anatomical models she purchased, how to “build your own neurons,” and the reception at the County Show.

How did you hear about the Anatomical Society’s Public Outreach and Engagement grant and who is eligible? Any member of the Anatomical Society is eligible--with the caveat of having been a member for at least 1 calendar year. I heard about the grant in their online newsletter “Anastomosis” and it was my first time applying. My application was submitted in July of this year, and it was for the inaugural round of these grants.

What did you do with the grant?This grant allowed me to purchase anatomical models (skeleton and spinal cord/vertebrae) and posters specifically for public engagement/outreach, which served a great purpose for the event at the New Forest Show. However, in addition and importantly, these models and posters will continue to be used at future public engagement events such as Science and Engineering Days and school outreach visits, not to mention the next New Forest Show.

What is the New Forest and Hampshire County Show? The New Forest and Hampshire County Show runs over three days and usually receives 100,000-plus visitors during that time. It could be compared to a large county fair or small state fair in the U.S. with similar events such as livestock displays and competitions, food, crafts, entertainment. I was located at the “Discovery Zone” in the Wessex Medical Trust tent at the Show, which housed educational events and stalls for children and adults alike.

​Where did you get your anatomical models for the Show? How many did you bring?​My anatomical models were purchased from an online retailer who also supplies the National Health Service here in the UK as well as universities. The website is anatomystuff.co.uk and it’s run by Health Books UK Ltd. They sell various models and educational materials from some of the well-known model companies (3B Scientific, Somso). They were standard brain and spinal cord models, as well as a skeleton. At the Show, we had two brain models and one spinal cord model. The skeleton unfortunately couldn’t be displayed because of space and travel constraints!

How was the reception at the Show?It was evident that both children and adults enjoyed learning about the nervous system and being able to interact with the models since our displayed attracted a lot of attention throughout the day. Hundreds of people came to the displays in the Wessex Medical Trust tent, and we engaged with several of them with discussions and/or anatomical demonstrations.

Our audience gained an important understanding of the nervous system including its building blocks (via our hands-on “build your own neuron” activity featuring Styrofoam balls, pipe cleaner, and yarn) and how it “fits” and “works” together with the rest of the body, using the skeletal system as an example.

Through our interactions, we learned what appeals to the public (both children and adults). This has improved our approach to public outreach. It’s clear that many members of the public are very curious to learn more from anatomical models and this makes engaging the public with neuroanatomy all the more rewarding.

A few of the adult visitors discussed personal experiences of various nervous system conditions and diseases (including motor neuron disease, traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis). These visitors thanked us specifically for our display and activities, which in some cases educated their children on the anatomical basics of diseases affecting family members. It was unexpected to hear both personal stories and gratitude for our event and our research but it made the event impactful for both us and the visiting public.​

Why do you feel it is important to engage it with the public about your particular topic and how do you make it pertinent to someone who’s not in academia?It’s important to engage the public with neuroanatomy because in today’s world, there are so many neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, conditions and traumatic injuries that can affect the brain and spinal cord.

Working in academia, we don’t always realize the personal side to those suffering from these conditions. The average person (who doesn’t study neuroanatomy!) sees the nervous system as a complicated part of the body yet, they are eager to learn more about it since it’s likely that many people have a friend or close relative living with a neurological condition or disease. Although it most definitely is a complicated part of the body--one could argue the same for any biological system/process--using anatomical models to visualize the structure of the brain and spinal cord can make it less complex and open up a new understanding on an area that the general public knew little about. By providing interesting, fun, and memorable facts about the brain and spinal cord together with visualization through anatomical models, the public seems a keen audience.

What is the most surprising thing about neuroanatomy and spinal cord injury?We work on studying ways to enhance repair of the nervous system using integrin receptors as well as induced pluripotent stem cells. Spinal cord injury is an anatomical problem in addition to a molecular, cellular, and systems problem.

What would you like the public to know about this area specifically?Engaging with the public through neuroanatomy using anatomical models of the nervous system is a great way to bring anatomy young and budding scientists as well as interested adults.​Are you an AAA member and how has membership benefited you?I first joined the AAA as a PhD student in New York and have continued my membership now as an independent investigator in the UK. My AAA membership has been hugely beneficial to my career! I was one of the first recipients of the post-doctoral fellowships in 2009 for work I was performing at the University of Cambridge Brain Repair Centre. I’ve also received a short-term visiting scholarship in 2012 during my post-doctoral work to work on a collaborative project with a lab at the Children’s Hospital in Boston.